Month: Nov 2011

Help Maikel, pacifist blogger on hunger strike, day 97

In the case of imprisoned pacifist blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad, the military court on 27 November again adjourned the trial, this time until 4 December, to hear a new prosecution witness. At the hearing on 27 November, Maikel Nabil Sanad’s internet provider TE Data told the prosecution that they would not be able to provide the court with the information requested, and that the military should have requested that the internet company monitor the blogger’s activity prior to arrest. At the hearing on 13 November, the case was adjourned to 27 November, to wait for the report of the internet service provider. Meanwhile, Maikel Nabil Sanad passed the 97th day of his hunger strike, surviving on fruit and dairy juices. Maikel Nabil Sanad was arrested at the end of march on charges of violating article 184 of the Egyptian penal code, which criminalizes “insulting the People’s Assembly, the Shura Council or any State Authority, or the Army or the Courts”, and article 102, “spreading false information”. In a trial in front of a military court violating all established legal standards, he was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment on 10 April 2011, in absence of his family, friends, or lawyers. Since then he has been kept in El Marg prison.

On 23 August, Maikel Nabil Sanad began a hunger strike in protest against his imprisonment. In a statement at the beginning of his hunger strike, he declared that his hunger strike is in protest against the severe injustice he is subjected to, namely his unfair trial in front of a military court, the slow processing of his appeal, and the difference of treatment in the cases of Asmaa Mahfouz and Louie Nagati (who had their charges dropped on 18 August 2011) and in his case.

As a result of growing pressure, the appeal hearing was finally brought forward to 4 October, but then again adjourned, because a file was missing. On 11 October, the military appeal court declared the original sentence of 10 April 2011 “null and void”, but failed to release Maikel Nabil Sanad.

Maikel Nabil Sanad refuses to co-operate with the re-trial, and also asked his lawyers to stop any co-operation with the military court. On 18 October, a military court again heard the case of Maikel Nabil Sanad, and appointed a lawyer to represent him, who – according to one of Maikel Nabil Sanad’s lawyers – was unacquainted with the case. The court ordered to transfer Maikel Nabil Sanad to a psychiatric hospital “for examination” (see co-alert, 20 October 2011), but the hospital refused this attempt at pathologisation of political dissent, and sent him back after a few days, declaring him “sane”.

The case has now been adjourned to 4 December, and Maikel Nabil Sanad remains imprisoned and on hunger strike.

War Resisters’ International calls for urgent letters of support to Maikel Nabil Sanad:
Maikel Nabil Sanad
El-Marg prison , El-Kalag El-Khanka,  Qalyubeya,  Egypt
Letters to Maikel can also be sent via http://links.causes.com/s/bkfSOb

War Resisters’ International calls for urgent letters of protest to the Egyptian authorities.

Director of Military Judiciary
Major-General Ahmed Abd Allah ,Military Judicial Department ,Cairo, Egypt Fax: +202 2 402 4468 / +202 2 411 3452 (ask for fax)

Military General Attorney ,Major-General Medhat Radwan ,Military Judicial Department ,Cairo, Egypt +202 2 412 0980 (ask for fax)

Minister of Defence ,His Excellency Muhammad Tantawi ,Ministry of Defence Cairo, Egypt mmc@afmic.gov.eg ; mod@afmic.gov.eg Fax: +20 2 2 5748 822

A protest email can be sent at http://links.causes.com/s/bkfSOR. War Resisters’ International calls on the Egyptian authorities to respond to Maikel Nabil Sanad’s hunger strike and to immediately release him.
Andreas Speck ,War Resisters’ International http://links.causes.com/s/bkfSOS

UK Biggest Strike Ever!!!

November 30 – biggest strike day EVER Print E-mail
Thursday, 24 November 2011 00:31
 Wednesday will see about three million public sector workers walking out on strike, as civil servants join teachers in opposing government cuts to pensions.PCS, UCU, NUT and ATL had all previously balloted for further industrial action, so their members will be out.  But added to them are a seemingly ever-growing list of other trade unions, including Unison, GMB, Unite, UCATT and NASUWT. (To see a more comprehensive list with breakdowns of ballot results, see Who’s out on Nov 30 on libcom.org.)

Nov 30: We’re All In It Together

As UK Prepares for Biggest Strike in Generations….

Well, it’s been a long time coming… Wednesday 30th November will see the first mass strike in the UK for four decades. 17 unions, including the biggest ones Unite, UCU, Unison, various teaching unions and PCS, have balloted to strike on pension reform which will see an estimated 3 million off work and, hopefully, cause massive disruption. Demonstrations and pickets are planned across the country – see http://www.n30strike.org for a complete list. Amongst the strikers are some unlikely suspects: 18,000 Border Agency workers are expected to strike leaving the government having to employ sinister private security firm Serco to take over for a day. Even the National Union of Probation Officers voted to join the strike four-to-one.

The government wants public sector workers to forgo 3% of their salary as pension contributions, which equates to a pay cut. So far workers have had to accept a two year pay freeze during a time of high inflation (in other words a pay cut), if they haven’t already been thrown out on their arse during the waves of mass redundancies (a total pay cut). The government’s arguments are designed to play on long term disgruntlement among the private sector that they have to deal with, on the whole, a shockingly shit pensions scenario and the public sector have had it a bit better off. Rather than aiming to sort out the private pensions mess which leaves millions in poverty on retirement, the PM wants the country to believe the public sector pensions are ‘gold plated’, unfair and unsustainable. Actually, most public workers end up with less than £5000 a year pension. They’ve also been reformed already: through a mix of negotiated and underhand changes, public sector pensions have been reduced to the tune of 25p in each pound over the last few years.

read lots more here WITH THANKS

http://www.schnews.org.uk/stories/Nov-30-Were-All-In-It-Together/

Antarctica: Climate deniers murder Mother Nature

There is a myth among the climate change denial industry that the climate of Antarctica is actually cooling rather than warming, and that this disproves the case for global warming. One theory is that the (man made) ozone hole has temporarily cooled the stratosphere and this makes for local cooling in spite of global warming; but needless to say, even this week, outright deniers claim that the thinning and breaking of huge swathes of glaciers is meaningless.

This surprising claim is in the face of the 1.2C average increase in Antarctic temperatures between 1959 and 1996. And it also ignores the plain fact that on a more front line level, there is clear warming taking place – for example, the Antarctic tourist industry (yes, there is such a thing, now) is rubbing its hands with glee at the profitable prospect of being able to take tourists deeper into Antarctica – one tour has been extended from 11 to 14 days because there are far more opportunities to disembark and sight see compared to a few years ago.

And study after study, including this year, has shown increasing thinning and melt of ice shelves, with massive icebergs resulting. while a plague of parasitic crabs moving south with warmer water is currently causing concern for local flora and fauna. By contrast, the supposed cooling evidence comes from data collected at just one location on the Continent – the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long-Term Ecological Research Station, along with rather a lot of extrapolation.

Antarctica has been described as the canary of the world – perhaps we should be listening harder to its faltering song.

from Viridis Lumen with thanks  http://viridislumen.blogspot.com/2011/11/antarctica.html

Greedy climate politicians trash the World

greedy politicians doom our children

note. posts on NH3 the CO2-Free fuel now have their own blog HERE.. http://co2freefuelexistsnow.wordpress.com/

The latest climate Talks in Durban are set to be an obscene farce as countries vie to be the greediest, stupidest, cruelest and most destructive. We need a revolution NOW, since the Nation States  REFUSE to adopt any reformist solutions, in the name of humanity and the millions of other species threatened with extinction…lets Occupy the Environment

Not content with burying the remains of the Kyoto Protocol the proposal is to  DO NOTHING until at least 2015. Continue reading “Greedy climate politicians trash the World”

Catholic Church: Yoga and Harry Potter are Satanic

Harry Potter and yoga are evil’, says Catholic Church exorcist

Father Gabriele Amorth, who for years was the Vatican’s chief exorcist and claims to have cleansed hundreds of people of evil spirits, said yoga is Satanic because it leads to a worship of Hinduism and “all eastern religions are based on a false belief in reincarnation”.

Reading JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books is no less dangerous, said the 86-year-old priest, who is the honorary president for life of the International Association of Exorcists, which he founded in 1990, and whose favourite film is the 1973 horror classic, The Exorcist.

The Harry Potter books, which have sold millions of copies worldwide, “seem innocuous” but in fact encourage children to believe in black magic and wizardry, Father Amorth said.

“Practising yoga is Satanic, it leads to evil just like reading Harry Potter,” he told a film festival in Umbria this week, where he was invited to introduce The Rite, a film about exorcism starring Sir Anthony Hopkins as a Jesuit priest.For most people it is a way of toning the limbs and soothing the stresses of everyday life, but the Catholic Church’s best-known exorcist says yoga is evil.

“In Harry Potter the Devil acts in a crafty and covert manner, under the guise of extraordinary powers, magic spells and curses,” said the priest, who in 1986 was appointed the chief exorcist for the Diocese of Rome.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/harry-potter/8915691/Harry-Potter-and-yoga-are-evil-says-Catholic-Church-exorcist.html

Corrupt Brazil Senate votes for Amazon slaughter.

In what may go down as one of the worst environmental crimes of the 21st Century, the Brazilian Senate voted on Wednesday to retain most of the bad changes to the national Forest Code that had passed the House of Deputies earlier this year.

Brazil’s international commitments to mitigating climate change, maintaining biodiversity and it’s status before the upcoming RIO+20 global environmental meetings are now on collision course with the insatiable demand of its agri-business sector. In the coming months the issue will be laid squarely before President Dilma Rousseff who has thus far avoided comment.

re-posted from JustMeans    A revised version of Brazil’s Forest Code, a piece of legislation that regulates the use of forest coverage on private properties in Brazil, and whose draft was approved in Congress on Wednesday (23), has sent shockwaves through the sustainability community in the country and abroad.

An incensed debate has gripped the country over the last year, which culminated in yesterday’s vote. The new draft, which is designed to meet the requirements of the rural business, has been rushed through the House and the Senate and did not take into account expert opinion from scientists, who object to the new version of the law vehemently.

“The report continues to pardon those who deforested illegally and will promote more deforestation. What used to be an environmental crime now has become fantastic business”, said Mrcio Astrini, Greenpeace’s head of Amazon campaign.

Scientists have warned the new law will open way for the clearance of more than 175 million acres, or roughly the size of Germany, Italy and Austria combined, which would be come mostly pasture for livestock and soy monocultures to feed cattle, mostly.

This volume of deforestation would release more than 25 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, or four times the goal for global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol during 2008-12.
WWF, which has been campaigning against the revised legislation from the beginning of the debate, said the proposed changes severely contradict Brazil’s efforts to become an environmental and sustainability leader on the global stage.

“Brazil will be cutting itself off from a growing global market for responsibly sourced goods, in addition to forgoing the countless benefits provided by a healthy Amazon, such as clean air and water, stable weather patterns and various other environmental services”, it said.

“We are watching, just before Brazil hosts Rio + 20, a clear attempt to dismantle Brazil’s environmental legislation,” stated WWF-Brazil’s CEO Maria Cecilia Wey de Brito. “This is something unprecedented in our history.”

The bill will go back to the House before being sent to President Dilma Rousseff, who can still veto it. “In the next phase, she will have to keep her word to veto or break her campaign promises”, said Mr. Gasparini in reference to Ms. Rousseff’s promise to not pardon those who have deforested.

The current Forest Code was written in 1965 and requires landowners to keep a certain percentage of their land as untouched forest, from 20 percent in certain areas to 80 per cent in the Amazon. The new laws would give amnesty from heavy fines to landowners who cleared forest illegally between 1965 and July 2008.

Rules related to the clearing of hills would be relaxed and forest areas near rivers would have to be between 100 and 330 feet from the river bank, which conservationists say will are not enough.

A recent report compiled by Imazon and Proforest found that Brazil lags behind other BRIC countries in terms of legislation that protects forest coverage. Compared with China, Russia and India, Brazil loses the race towards sustainability by deforesting more than it reforests.

MORE INFO SEE HERE 

Belo Monte site OCCUPIED. Work still stopped..

Altamira, Brazil – Hundreds of indigenous leaders, fishermen and riverine people from the Xingu River basin have gathered to occupy the Belo Monte Dam construction site in a peaceful protest to stop its construction in Altamira, located in the state of Pará in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. They Poor barrio of Altimira to […]

On sat 20th Aug a massive demo took place against the ongoing Amazon destruction for the Belo Monte dam. Also against the new Forest Law, now in the Senate, which ‘relaxes’ the already unenforced deforestation  code. Brazil had been a constructive leader in Climate talks, which came to nothing due to the greedy demands of […]

The greedy corrupt Brazilian politicians are voting to give free rein to their fascist landlord colleagues  and the McDonalds backed Ranching industry to  destroy the Amazon Rainforest. The politicians appeal to nationalist sentiment.. saying we have already destroyed our forests and they have every right. But 79% of Brazilians are AGAINST the new laws going […]

BRAZIL Politicians Out of Sync with Public Sentiment on the Environment By Mario Osava* Trans-Amazonian Highway outside Altamira in the northern Brazilian state of Pará. Credit:Mario Osava/IPS with thanks BRASILIA, Jun 29, 2011 (Tierramérica) – The environmental movement continues to gain credibility and support as scientific findings confirm its warnings and natural disasters become increasingly […]

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon from August 2009-May 2011.The analysis by Imazon suggests that the Forest Code debate may be a factor in rising deforestation. It found a 363 percent increase in forest degradation — logging and burning of forest that typically precedes deforestation — over the past 10 months, reaching 6,081 sq km. Most […]

”The surprise passing of the new Forest Law in the lower house of the Brazilian congress is due to a campaign by multinational  agribusiness and the big landlords who still own most of the country. The proposed amnesty for forest crimes has caused a 6 fold increase in deforestation already. The huge majority in favour […]

Dark Day for Brazil’s Amazon Jungle By Fabiana Frayssinet

foto. José and Maria. ‘They gunned them down and cut off their ears” An Amazon environmental activist and his wife were killed late on Monday and the crime is being investigated as a possible assassination to silence the outspoken forest defender, according to police. José Claudio Ribeiro da Silva, also known by his nickname of […]

URGENT AMAZON FOREST ALERT [UPDATE 20 May 2011: The Guardian UK reports, “Brazil forms ‘crisis cabinet’ following unexpected deforestation surge”.] Events are moving quickly in Brazil’s epic battle over a new national Forest Code. The struggle has has reached a critical stage full of both danger and opportunity. Please take action. EMERGENCY — BRAZIL’S NATIONAL […]

By Clarinha Glock* A solitary cow in a slash-and-burn clearing where there was once Amazon rainforest. C PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, May 16, 2011 (Tierramérica) – The adoption of a new Forest Code in Brazil could threaten efforts to curb Amazon deforestation, which was reduced 70 percent between 2004 and 2010. The proposal to amend the […]

The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy

The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy


The violent police assaults across the US are no coincidence. Occupy has touched the third rail of our political class’s venality

guardian.co.uk, US citizens of all political persuasions are still reeling from images of unparallelled police brutality in a coordinated crackdown against peaceful OWS protesters in cities across the nation this past week. An elderly woman was pepper-sprayed in the face; the scene of unresisting, supine students at UC Davis being pepper-sprayed by phalanxes of riot police went viral online; images proliferated of young women – targeted seemingly for their gender – screaming, dragged by the hair by police in riot gear; and the pictures of a young man, stunned and bleeding profusely from the head, emerged in the record of the middle-of-the-night clearing of Zuccotti Park.

 The New York Times reported that “New York cops have arrested, punched, whacked, shoved to the ground and tossed a barrier at reporters and photographers” covering protests. Reporters were asked by NYPD to raise their hands to prove they had credentials: when many dutifully did so, they were taken, upon threat of arrest, away from the story they were covering, and penned far from the site in which the news was unfolding. Other reporters wearing press passes were arrested and roughed up by cops, after being – falsely – informed by police that “It is illegal to take pictures on the sidewalk.”
In New York, a state supreme court justice and a New York City council member were beaten up; in Berkeley, California, one of our greatest national poets, Robert Hass, was beaten with batons. The picture darkened still further when Wonkette and Washingtonsblog.com reported that the Mayor of Oakland acknowledged that the Department of Homeland Security had participated in an 18-city mayor conference call advising mayors on “how to suppress” Occupy protests.

I noticed that rightwing pundits and politicians on the TV shows on which I was appearing were all on-message against OWS. Journalist Chris Hayes reported on a leaked memothat revealed lobbyists vying for an $850,000 contract to smear Occupy. Message coordination of this kind is impossible without a full-court press at the top. This was clearly not simply a case of a freaked-out mayors’, city-by-city municipal overreaction against mess in the parks and cranky campers. As the puzzle pieces fit together, they began to show coordination against OWS at the highest national levels.